Cushioning underwire assembly and underwire bra with the same

ABSTRACT

A cushioning underwire assembly has a compartment and a supporting assembly. The compartment has two opposite fabrics mounted attached together to form a compartmenting cavity. The supporting assembly is inserted in the fabrics of the compartmenting cavity and has a wire, two cushion sleeves and a resilient pad. The cushion sleeves are mounted on ends of the wire to prevent the wire from inadvertently penetrating through the compartment. The resilient pad covers one surface of the wire to make a wearer feel comfortable.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a bra, and more particularly to a cushioning underwire assembly and an underwire bra that has cushioning functions to make wearers feel comfortable.

2. Description of Related Art

Bras are used to embellish women's figures and protect breasts and are therefore required to provide breast support and wear comfort. With reference to FIG. 6, a conventional bra has two cups and each cup has a bottom edge 70 and a compartment 80 sewed on the bottom edge 70. A supportive metal wire 90 is inserted into the compartment 80 for supporting breasts. However, the metal wire 90 easily penetrates and damages the cup when inserted in the compartment during fabrication. When completely fabricated in the cup, the metal wire 90 easily slides and shifts, which causes a wearer to adjust the cups repeatedly. Furthermore, the metal wire 90 has two opposite sharp ends that press against the wear's skin to result in uncomfortableness. The sharp ends may also pierce through the cup and injure the wearer.

To overcome the shortcomings, the present invention provides an underwire assembly and an underwire bra to mitigate or obviate the aforementioned problems.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The main objective of the invention is to provide a cushioning underwire assembly and an underwire bra that has cushioning functions to make wearers feel comfortable.

A cushioning underwire assembly in accordance with the present invention has a compartment and a supporting assembly. The compartment has two opposite fabrics mounted attached together to form a compartmenting cavity. The supporting assembly is inserted in the fabrics of the compartmenting cavity and has a wire, two cushion sleeves and a resilient pad. The cushion sleeves are mounted on ends of the wire to prevent the wire from inadvertently penetrating through the compartment. The resilient pad covers one surface of the wire to make a wearer feel comfortable.

Other objectives, advantages and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a cushioning underwire assembly in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a partially exploded perspective view of the cushioning underwire assembly in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a cross sectional side view of the cushioning underwire assembly in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a cross sectional end view of the cushioning underwire assembly in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a front view of an underwire bra mounted with the cushioning underwire assemblies in FIG. 1; and

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a conventional bra in accordance with the prior art.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

With reference to FIGS. 1 to 4, a cushioning underwire assembly 10 in accordance with the present application comprises a compartment and a supporting assembly 30.

The compartment has two opposite compartment fabrics 20 that are curved and flat and attached together to form a compartmenting cavity between the compartment fabrics 20. Preferably, outer edges of the fabrics 20 are combined tightly together by a sewing or ultrasonic welding process.

The supporting assembly 30 is inserted into the compartmenting cavity between the fabrics 20 of the compartment and has a supporter 40 and a resilient pad 50.

The supporter 40 is mounted in the compartmenting cavity between the fabrics 20 and has a wire 41 and two cushioning sleeves 43.

The wire 41 is curved and flat, corresponds to the fabrics 20 in shape, may be made of metal, is mounted in the compartmenting cavity between the fabrics 20 and has two ends 42 and two opposite surfaces 44. Furthermore, a surface area of the wire 41 is smaller than that of each fabric 20 so that the wire 41 can be enclosed in the compartmenting cavity during the aforementioned sewing or ultrasonic process.

The cushion sleeves 43 are soft and resilient, may be made of polyurethane (PU) such as thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU), casting polyurethane (CPU) and are respectively mounted around and cover the ends 42 of the wire 41 in the compartmenting cavity.

The resilient pad 50 is soft and resilient, may be made of silicone or polyurethane, is mounted in the compartmenting cavity and covers one surface 44 of the wire 41 that faces the skin of a wearer. The resilient pad 50 also covers the cushion sleeve 43.

With further reference to FIG. 5, an underwire bra in accordance with the present application is mounted with two of the aforementioned cushioning underwire assemblies 10 and has two cups 61 and two panels 62.

The cups 61 are bridged together and each cup 61 has an outside edge and a curved bottom edge 63.

The panels 62 are mounted respectively on outside edges of the cups 61 and may be fastened together by buckles.

The cushioning underwire assemblies 10 are mounted respectively on the bottom edges 63 of the cups 61. The compartments of the cushioning underwire assemblies 10 are attached respectively to the bottom edges 63 of the cups 61 by a sewing or ultrasonic welding process.

The wire 41 with the ends 42 covered by the cushion sleeves 43 and the resilient pad 50 has the following advantages. The resilient pad 50 is located between the wire 41 and the skin of the wearer to provide padding and cushioning functions to make the wearer feel comfortable. Furthermore, the cushion sleeves 43 enclose the ends 42 of the wire 41 to prevent accidental penetration of the wire 41 out of the compartment and improve the safety of the cushioning underwire assembly 10.

Even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the present invention have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of the structure and function of the invention, the disclosure is illustrative only. Changes may be made in the details, especially in matters of shape, size, and arrangement of parts within the principles of the invention to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed. 

1. A cushioning underwire assembly comprising: a compartment having two opposite compartment fabrics being curved and flat and attached together to form a compartmenting cavity between the compartment fabrics; and a supporting assembly inserted in the compartmenting cavity between the fabrics of the compartment and having a supporter mounted in the compartmenting cavity between the fabrics and having a wire being curved and flat, mounted in the compartmenting cavity between the fabrics and having two ends and two opposite surfaces; and two cushioning sleeves being resilient and respectively covering the ends of the wire in the compartmenting cavity; and a resilient pad mounted in the compartmenting cavity and covering one surface of the wire.
 2. The cushioning underwire assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the cushion sleeves are made of polyurethane.
 3. The cushioning underwire assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the resilient pad is made of a material selected from a group consisting of silicone and polyurethane.
 4. The cushioning underwire assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein two outer edges of the fabrics are combined tightly together by one of sewing and ultrasonic welding processes to hold the wire in the compartmenting cavity.
 5. The cushioning underwire assembly as claimed in claim 2, wherein two outer edges of the fabrics are combined tightly together by one of sewing and ultrasonic welding processes to hold the wire in the compartmenting cavity.
 6. The cushioning underwire assembly as claimed in claim 3, wherein two outer edges of the fabrics are combined tightly together by one of sewing and ultrasonic welding processes to hold the wire in the compartmenting cavity.
 7. The cushioning underwire assembly as claimed in claim 4, wherein two outer edges of the fabrics are combined tightly together by one of sewing and ultrasonic welding processes to hold the wire in the compartmenting cavity.
 8. An underwire bra comprising: two cups bridged together and each cup having an outside edge and a curved bottom edge; two panels mounted respectively on outside edges of the cups; and two cushioning underwire assemblies mounted respectively on the bottom edges of the cups and each cushioning underwire assembly having a compartment having two opposite compartment fabrics being curved and flat and attached together to form a compartmenting cavity between the compartment fabrics; and a supporting assembly inserted in the compartmenting cavity between the fabrics of the compartment and having a supporter mounted in the compartmenting cavity between the fabrics and having a wire being curved and flat, mounted in the compartmenting cavity between the fabrics and having two ends and two opposite surfaces; and two cushioning sleeves being resilient and respectively covering the ends of the wire in the compartmenting cavity; and a resilient pad mounted in the compartmenting cavity and covering one surface of the wire.
 9. The underwire bra as claimed in claim 8, wherein two outer edges of the fabrics of each compartment are combined tightly together by one of sewing and ultrasonic welding processes to hold the wire in the compartmenting cavity. 